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Intergovernmental Negotiations on the
Post-2015 Development Agenda
Eighth Session
New York, 31 July 2015
Revised Draft for Adoption
Statement by Switzerland
Distinguished Co-facilitators,
Let me join others in thanking you both and your teams for submitting this new, and hopefully last draft. We are now at getting very close to the finish-ing line of what has been a marathon process of 2 and a half years. We are close to the end, but we are not quite there yet.
I would like to make the following comments to the new draft at this stage:
First of all on the preamble:
We have a preference for the longer version. Our agenda is comprehensive and complex. We have 17 SDGs and 169 targets, the Preamble should re-flect the depth of the agenda so that it really communicates our vision.
We consider that the three dimensions of sustainable development are strong and better integrated in the longer version. Also, the shorter version,
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as pointed out by others, is lacking key references to climate change and sustainable consumption and production.
On the Declaration:
There are many elements we like. But with a few fixes the text could be made stronger:
- Amongst these, we would support the amendment brought in last night by the African Group on paragraph 8 regarding “investment in children”.
- We also support calls to delete the reference in paragraph 20 to “inter-nationally recognized human rights” and support the reference to “and other status”. Along the same lines we call for deletion of the last sen-tence in paragraph 3.
- On paragraph 25: We support the proposal by AOSIS to add a refer-ence to the Committee on World Food Security.
- We support proposals by Japan and Korea to reference “all social and economic groups” in paragraphs 4 and 44.
- On paragraph 31, we would prefer the version of 31 alt.
- We support the current formulation in paragraph 42. Having heard Cameroon yesterday, we are flexible to amend it the way it was pro-posed – but with one exception: we do not support the deletion of the words “and sustainable development” in the first sentence. The UN de-velopment system’s role for sustainable development goes beyond the sole implementation of the SDGs.
- I would like to emphasize one specific issue in particular, and this is in relation to the references to water: Despite many calls coming from many different regions over the last two weeks, but also over the last
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two and a half years, the outcome document still reflects a limited per-spective on water issues. Water is more than water supply and sanita-tion, more than pipes, taps and toilets. There is a “before” and an “after” for any water supply and sanitation: this is water management, as it is also reflected in the “Future we want” and in SDG 6. In addition, rivers are not the only place where you find freshwater. Let us not forget lakes and aquifers. By just writing rivers, we give a sense we can use unsus-tainably lakes and aquifers.
We therefore suggest the following:
- In paragraph 9, the second sentence should read: A world in which consumption and production patterns, “management” and use of all natural resources – from air to land, from rivers, “lakes and aquifers (or freshwater bodies)” to oceans and seas – are sustainable.
- In paragraph 32. Add “protect and manage” freshwater resources.
- In addition, in paragraph 6, we cannot support that the human right to water and sanitation is not referenced correctly, as sanitation has been separated from the human right. We therefore call for you to refer-ence this according to para 121 of “The future we want” in 2012, as well as by the General Assembly in 68/157. [“Human Right to safe drinking water and sanitation”]
On Sustainable Development Goals
We welcome that you replaced all the “x”-values in the document. Although we would have preferred your original proposal for changes, we can accept the package of revised targets as it is.
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- However, we would support Japan’s call to align target 11.5 with the agreed language in Sendai.
- We support the co-facilitators’ approach to reference the Open Working Group on SDGs through a simple reference to the UNGA resolution 68/970.
On Means of implementation
- We thank you for streamlining the text regarding Means of Implementa-tion in both the declaration and Chapter 3, as suggested by many del-egations.
- Although we would have wished stronger language to describe the rela-tionship between the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Post-2015 Agenda, we can now support the reference to the endorsement of the Addis Outcome by the General Assembly and the recognition that the full implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda is critical for the realization of the SDGs and targets in paragraph 40.
Finally on Follow-up and review
We think we have collectively come a long way regarding Follow-up and review in a short time. While we share some delegations’ concern that ref-erences to participation, transparency as well as the notion of regular reviews have been lost, we believe that the chapter as it reads now, is a balanced reflection of where we stand and provides a good basis for the important work ahead of us.
Thank you!
